Takes two to make a pair
by Spade.Ace
Summary: Fudomine's courts are being repaired and Rikkai had generously stepped up to sharing their courts. Kirihara and the lot aren't exaclty happy with their company,especially Kirihara.One particular person has been aggravating him-or rather his heart.
1. Following

Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it =)

* * *

><p>He watched her. It was wrong. Likewise, it would be considered stalking to any normal person who was passing by. But since when did he care? Because the person in front of him stirred so many emotions that her couldn't even put a finger on it. And it ticked him off to no extent.<p>

She was walking right in front of him, not a clue that he was following. And hey, if she had some decency to turn a head around now and then, he wouldn't be here. But, no. She looked ahead, proud and tall and there was not a damn thing in the world he could do about it.

" Ann!"

He heard her brother calling her name. Thanks heavens they were in a public area, or else he would've broken the nearest object by now. He watched them contentedly greet each other, wide smiles on their faces.

" Kippei, come on, the book stores right here!" She grinned, grabbing her older brothers arm and dragging him in.

He watched as her brother, Kippei, rolled his eyes in dismay, but let her drag him into the cozy bookstore.

He grunted in displeasure and followed them in. From there her watched her through the book shelves. Her laugh, her eyes, her hair, her lips, her body…

And he couldn't take her obviousness of not noticing right there and then. Simply four inches away, almost breathing on her, yet she didn't have a clue.

He continued to watch her, all the way until she made it to the counter with an arm looped around her brothers. The pleasant sound of laughter echoed in the book store, as he watched them chat merrily.

He growled in annoyance, and suppressed any foul language that may have spewed out of his mouth. He watched. He watched her all the way out book store, until the door bell chime indicated her departure.

He sighed. _Why had he come here?_ It just happened when he saw her. He was pondering so much, he failed to notice a tall, familiar figure shadow him from behind.

" Kirihara?"

He heard his sempai's voice behind him and snapped around.

" Yanagi sempai!" He yelled in surprise. " What are you doing here?"

Yanagi gave him a strange look before replying, " I should really be the one asking you that, Kirihara."

Kirihara smiled sheepishly, " well, you know, I just uh- just came he-"

" 84 percent chance that you were bored, 90 percent chance your were shopping and got side-tracked, and 100 percent chance, you were following someone," Yanagi cut in, as Kirihara felt his jaws drop.

His sempai never failed to awe him in every way to perfection.

" How did you- ho-"

"Actually, I've been here for the past one hour or so, and happen to see you watching the Tachibana-san's sister," Yanagi explained, picking a book of the shelf they were standing next to.

Kirihara blushed in embarrassment, "no, really, I was just heading in the same direction an-"

"And happen to follow her right into the book store," Yanagi finished, snapping the book shut, " tell that to someone who believes it," he stated, calmly.

Kirihara crossed his arms, " well then you were following me too, ya know?" He shot back.

" Oh? How so?"

" You were watching me! Isn't that considered stalking, or following, huh?" Kirihara said, sassily.

Yanagi coughed, " no, it isn't. It is merely an observation that one teammate makes of another," he elaborated, as Kirihara looked at him in confusion.

Yanagi sighed, " what are doing out in this weather any way?" He asked, changing the topic. It was winter, not a time when most people would be out, yet the streets were packed as Christmas was nearing and shopping was beginning.

" Oh, my mom sent me out to get food…" he trailed off before continuing, "and then I saw her." He muttered honestly.

Yanagi noticed the slight change in his voice. It almost sounded hoarse, deep, to manly to sound like Kirihara. And his face changed to something more thoughtful, which not a Kirihara trait her could recall form any prior incidents.

" You saw her and stalked her." Yanagi pointed out bluntly, as Kirihara fretted and watched as the store clerk turned to the two with a suspicious gaze.

" Shhhhh!" He said, scolding, " don't say stuff like that so loudly!" Kirihara hissed quietly, while Yanagi smirked at him.

" 50 percent chance you like her."

" No, zero percent chance I like her!"

" 100 percent chance you love her."

" I don't love her either!"

" You do."

" I don't!"

" I know you do."

Kirihara groaned at his sempai's persistence. Why couldn't they stay out of his private life? I mean, they'd already violated his life at school, which didn't help the situation much.

" I'm leaving," Kirihara exasperated, walking towards the door. Yanagi appeared at his side once more, but this time, with a heavy bag in his hand.

" I was just going to the grocery store to, " he explained, as Kirihara nodded. "I'll come along with you."

" Sure."

" Now please, Kirihara, be a man and hold these bags for me."

" Hell no."

He didn't have much of a choice, as Yanagi threw the bags at him, which he was forced to catch because if he knew that the after math would be far force.

" Fine," he sighed, broodingly.

Yanagi let out a small smile, " good, now let's get going. And don't be late for tennis practice tomorrow," he said seriously.

The pair walked down the snow-covered road, watching as the bustling streets with cars and people moved about. It was only November, yet there was so much going on. The thought of Christmas arriving soon wasn't that great either. At least to him it wasn't.

Yanagi and Kirihara walked down the road and into the grocery store. A little man at the side, who seemed to be homeless, tugged on Kirihara's leg.

Kirihara gasped, " err…yes?" He asked hesitantly, as Yanagi stopped as well, also looking a bit puzzled.

The man, whivering cold, dug deep into his old oat pocket and pulled out an object. He took Kirihara's hand and dropped it.

He took along while time to stare at it. It was a glass figurine of an angel. The face and laugh embedded on the angel, reminded him of someone. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he wished he knew who it was.

" So pretty…" Kiriara breathed, " what is it…?"

The man smiled, " it's an angel."

"An angel?" Kirihara asked again, skeptically.

" Your angel."

Kirihara mumbled a small thanks and watched as the old man trotted away. Yanagi said nothing and the two continued to walk ahead.

* * *

><p>Yes, it was a short first chapter, but like they say, it's just the beginning ^_~<p>

Ratings will go up later :)

R&R


	2. News

Disclaimer: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it :D

* * *

><p>Long, tiresome hours of practice after school was the usual routine for a certain person. Kirihara panted, dripping in sweat and water and whatever else he could emit from his rest of his teammates followed in suit, all sweaty.<p>

"So I here he's in love."

" Really! You kidding…did Yanagi tell you?"

" No way, who is it?"

" It's quite obvious, Marui, don't ask such moronic questions."

" Well, excuse me Mr. golf course."

"Yes, you are excused."

" Shut it you two."

"Puri."

Kirihara sighed, knowing this would happen. " So, who's the unlucky girl?" Marui grinned, putting a hand on Kirihara's shoulder. Kirihara shoved it off, " she's not unlucky…I mean, I don't know what your talking about," he muttered, failing to realize that he was blushing slightly.

" What is going on here?" Yukimura asked, arms crossed and walking towards them with a small smile on his tender face.

He always smiled, much less to the amusement of the rest of his team. And although smiles usually meant pleasantries and such, Yukimura's smiles generally held deeper meaning of contemplation.

" Nothing really," Yanagi brushed casually, clearly trying to change the topic since he knew exactly what was going on.

" Oh bouchou! We're just talking about Kirihara's love live," Marui explained, eating his normal overload of sweets all the while.

Yukimura raised a eyebrow, "oh," he simply said, "how interesting."

Kirihara gulped, trying his very best not to seem noticeably tense and stiff. His bad luck kicked in as he felt silver stands of hair touch his own and looked up to see Niou bending down right beside him.

"That's not the interesting part though," Niou smirked, lightly patting Kirihara's head, while he tried to swat his sempai's hand away.

" Yeah, the interesting part is, who it is," Jackal sighed, picking up the small sweets Marui was dropping obliviously.

" It's reportedly the sister of-"

" What are you doing?" Yaguu's statement was cut short when Sanada interrupted, marching up to them.

" Nothing, really…we were j-"

" If you have time to falter and chit-chat then I suggest you used it more wisely, 100 laps now!" He directed strictly, towering down on them.

Yanagi had strangely vanished from the group, as did Yukimura and the two were now chatting near the benches, whispering strange necessities, which the others couldn't here.

The group, consisting of Yaguu, Niou, Jackal, Marui and Kirihara sighed understandingly, as this was nothing new or shocking them.

"Fuku-bouchou seriously needs to get laid," Niou grinned, scratching his hair as the others stifled their laughter as much as they could.

"Niou…" Yaguu said, warning evident in his tone. Niou was in dangerous waters for sure.

Sanada stopped where he was and slowly turned back around, eyeing Niou in the process. He knew what was coming. They all did.

" Niou, 200 laps and clean up the balls afterwards."

Niou only grinned wider, as the Jackal and Yaguu sighed in unison at his foolhardy actions. If only he could suppress the urge to make comments like that in Sanada's presence, then they wouldn't have to suffer.

" And Marui, if I see another one of those cakes going down your throat, you'll be joining Niou," Sanada added, as Marui choked on his cake upon hearing that.

" What!" Marui yelled, as Sanada walked away to join Yanagi and Yukimura in their little huddle.

" It's probably for the best, Marui," Jackal stated, patting his partners shoulder. Marui looked absolutely baffled at this punishment. And he hadn't even done anything.

" Besides, it will help you concentrate more on playing than eating," Yayguu pointed out, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

" But I'm not even fat!" Marui retaliated, throwing his hands up.

Niou had already started running and already looked tired, which was justified since the group had previously run 100 laps together. Marui grunted in dismay, throwing away the rest of the cake in the nearest rash cake and came back with a sour look.

Everyone was just about to their daily practices when Kirihara spoke.

" Guys, what does 'getting laid' mean?" He asked, picking up his jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. They almost forgot he was there, since he had been so quiet.

Yanagi, who had over heard, sighed in dismay, " Kirihara…" he trailed off.

The rest of them stuttered, clearly trying to avoid the conversation at hand all the while being thankful that Niou was busy running or else who knew what Kirihara's poor ears would hear.

" Less talking more training!" Sanada hollered form the side, as everyone rushed to get their equipment. He'd obviously heard Kirihara's awkward question, thus had tried to ease the tension.

Being in high school now, the group was still together, as they had all decided to go to a neighboring high school located conveniently near all of them. It was a good prestigious high school, much like their middle school. The older members sometimes skipped practice in preparation for future jobs and such, leaving only Jackal, Marui and Kirihara, the second years, to practice.

Being in the same high school too, it was no surprise that one by one, they all joined the tennis team, again having their own reign.

And days like these were quite rare, when all of them could be seen practicing together, simultaneously training for the better.

Practice was cut short, when Yukimura called the team over to the benches during there practice matches.

" What's up bouchou, cutting practice short?" Kirihara questioned suggestively, wiping his head with a towel; he was sweating.

" Or maybe it's the opposite, Kirihara," Yukimura smiled, responding as Kirihara twitched. It was not possible he could extend practices in this weather.

" What, did someone die?" Niou questioned quirking the side of his lips. Everyone turned to look at him with brooding looks that read, 'are you serious'?

" What?" He shrugged, "I mean, we never cut practices, so I thought it was something big," he stated logically.

Yukimura sighed, before smiling a hollow smile, " Niou, there's an empty track waiting for you…if you'd like," he taunted. Understanding the meaning behind his words, Niou simply nodded and kept quiet.

Sanada came up behind Yukimura and bent down to whisper something quickly. Whatever was whispered, Yukimura clearly approved, as he smiled in turn and nodded in agreement. Sanada briskly walked out of the indoor courts just as quickly as he'd come.

" What's going on?" Yaguu asked, slightly annoyed at the slow pace of revealing things.

" You all remember Fudomine from middle school, right?" Yukimura began slowly.

All the members except Kirihara widened their eyes for a fraction of second, before looking at their Bouchou with skeptical glances. They didn't need their captain to tell them what was already obvious.

" Oh fuck no," Niou declared hotly, slamming the bench, as Yaguu, his partner nodded in agreement with him.

" Ditto."

Jackal looked at Marui, "Ditto?" He repeated tesitly, " it can't be that bad Marui, I mean really guys," Jackal exasperated.

" Wait, what?" Kirihara said, confusedly looking around for some answers. Yanagi sighed, already aware of this, prior to the predicament.

" Kirihara, their indoor courts are being repaired, and in the mean time they will be needing a proper training court…"

Kirihara was nodding, faster; the information was finally getting to him, "so, so, you mean they'll be using…ours then?"

Yanagi shook his head, "precisely, our facility is large and are equipment is excellent and will suffice for both our teams," he stated.

" And let me guess…you don't know how long the repairs going to take so we're pretty much stuck with them for who knows how long," Marui said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"To sum it all up, yes," Yanagi answered back.

" Fuck no," Kirihara growled, throwing his towel on the bench. Middle school matches with Fudomine had left some hefty scars, as they'd hurt his pride.

Jackal and Yaguu gasped at his sudden outburst, but Marui and Niou just grinned in acknowledgment and agreement.

" Well I'm sorry to disappoint you people, but they've already arrived, and will be looking around," Yukimura replied calmly, clearly not frazzled or put down by any of the things his teammates had been spouting. It was expected to say the least.

" But w-"

Yukimura held a hand up to silence Kirihara, "so I ask of you, please be kind and respectful. They're guests, so treat them like the are," he explained seriously.

Kirihara sighed thoughtfully, as long as_ she _wasn't here, it would be fine even if her brother was loitering around. He'd just have to put up with it, however method he'd need to use.

They all nodded, before resuming to their original practice matches. No sooner said then done, Sanada walked into the courts with a few people following behind. The tennis members stopped to look, as they all walked towards the bench where Yukimura was sitting. They could tell they had begun chatting, as they gestured with their hands and Yukimura explained everything.

Kirihara looked away, before something caught his eyes.

Short brown hair that had grown just and inch or two overtime, and those beautiful hazel colored, doe shaped eyes.

She hit him like a ton of bricks, and he had such little time to contemplate that he failed to realize Yanagi had served in his direction.

_SMACK._

The ball hit him hard on his head, making him tumble slightly, but he caught his balance. That surely seemed to have caught her attention, as she turned towards him, and immediately her eyes lit in a fiery rage that was not evident in her eyes a few seconds ago.

And if he thought she was going to speak to him, Kirihara had something else coming. She sparred him one last glance before stalling off on her heals. Kirihara growled.

" This is gonna be one long practice," Niou whispered form the sides.

Everybody on the courts couldn't help, but nod in agreement at the trickster's words.

One long practice.

* * *

><p>Ya-ha-ha, another chapter done :D<p>

Yes, I did modify like, their schooling and stuff, cause I wanted to make them all 16 and over er...reasons ^_^

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing :D

Stay tuned for the next chapter...they've finally met each other again :)

R&R


	3. Meeting

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it =)

* * *

><p>With the extra few people from Fudomine, the schools indoor tennis courts seemed completely full. And it was clear to the rest of the school that the two teams would have much more than difficulty getting along. Communication was rarely made between the two teams, and apart from casual nods or small greetings, words of day to day happenings were never exchanged.<p>

But they were all waiting, both teams. Waiting for someone to make a commotion and provoke each other. And they didn't have to wait long for that to happen that much was clear. Sooner or later, one of the two would irk a fight or accuse one another.

" Oi, Shinji, where's my water bottle?" Kamio asked restlessly.

Shinji, the blue haired boy, shrugged in response, before picking up his own water bottle and drinking.

"How am I supposed to know," he mumbled back, "it's your water bottle, not mine," he added logically, while Kamio ran a hand through his red locks of hair.

" Well then, where did it go?" He seethed, obviously angry and exhausted from such a tiresome training.

Shinji sighed, "drink mine for now…we'll find it later," he said, throwing his bottle in Kamio's direction. He caught it with his bullet like reflexes, and finished the whole bottle.

" What's wrong?" Ishida asked, wiping the sweat off his clean shaved head. The two teammates, turned towards their friend.

" Kamio misplaced his water bottle," Shinji stated, bluntly. Ishida's faced resembled an 'o' for a moment before his forehead crinkled in contemplation.

" Well, this may just be a bad coincidence, but I seem to have 'misplaced' mine too," he stated, as Shinji listened intensely.

" Really?" Kamio asked, more interested than ever.

" Yes," Ishida nodded, "and I'm not the only one, Mori and Sakurai also seemed to have 'misplaced' their water bottles as well," he explained.

Kamio's eyes widened, before narrowing heavily, " four peoples water bottles disappear and you'd think Rikkai was just sitting quiet all along…"

Ishida shook his head in understanding, "it was probably them to begin with," he sighed. "Whatever, just drop it…it's just a water bottle," he pointed out, chuckling.

Kamio nodded, but still didn't seem fully convinced. He knew they weren't exactly well acquainted with each other, but that was just plain rude. And knowing them, he figured that they'd do again sooner or later.

" And the… what happened then?" Shinji called out, absent mindedly, as Kamio and Ishida looked at him confusedly.

" What happened when?" Kamio questioned, raising a brow.

Shinji glanced at both of them, " wait, what were we talking about?"

" What are _you_ talking about?" Kamio asked pointedly, putting a hand on his hip.

Ishida sighed, before pulling them both by the arm, " let's go, time to practice, or Kippei's gonna get angry."

The trio left, grinning and chatting pleasantly to each other. In the far corner of the gym, a few pair's of eyes stalked them all the way to their area of the court.

"Marui was that really necessary?" Yagyuu questioned, tipping his glasses upward in his usual manner.

Marui grinned slyly, " hey, hey, I was just playing around a bit, nothing serious," he laughed.

" Nothing serious my foot! Marui have some respect and stop playing pranks like that," Jackal sighed, pinching Marui's ear as he winced.

" Did someone say pranks?"

Yagyuu turned his head, to see Niou and Renji walking over, "no. no one said anything about pranks, Niou. Nothing at all."

Niou smirked, a shook his head, " Yagyuu, what do I look like-"

" It was obvious Niou was the one who told Marui to the act of theft," Renji cut in smartly, as Yagyuu nodded in understanding.

Jackal scoffed in disbelief, "well I don't believe! It's only been 5 days since they came and you guys have already started ruining their lives," he stated with Yagyuu nodding beside him.

" They're guests, remember that," Yagyuu pointed out.

" And just think what would happen if fuku bouchou found out?" Jackal added testily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marui scratched his head sheepishly, " he'd probably make us run 1000 laps," he exclaimed.

Niou rolled his eyes, "basically he'll prepare a 8 course meal with our heads being the main dish, but big deal this was just a little bit of fun." Niou added, cheekily.

" 95 percent chance that they believe you will pull another prank again also and 86 percent chance that they'll fight back," Yanagi stated, making everyone's thoughts and future plans very clear.

Yagyuu stood up, grabbing his racket, " well if anything like that is to occur, we'll just have to fight fire with fire," he said as Niou grinned widely, following him in suit over to the courts.

Jackal sighed into his hand, " poor Yagyuu, he's influenced by Niou too much."

Marui grinned, "well your lucky that you have a doubles partner like me, eh?" he said, propping a hand on Jackals shoulder.

" Oh shut up will you," he said rolling his eyes, " goodness, I'm the only sane person on this team…the rest you are just plain mad, I tell you," Jackal heaved, making his way over to the courts. Marui followed close behind, giggling like a child at Jackals words.

Renji watched his teammates leave, and turned around only to be met with Kirihara's face looking up at him.

When did he get here?

"Yanagi sempai, what's wrong?" He questioned, titling his head.

He'd been so swept up in his thoughts he'd failed to notice Kirihara behind him.

" Kirihara," he said, taken aback slightly.

" What were they talking about, sempai?" He asked, his vivid green eyes filled with interest.

" Nothing really, just daily plans, that's all," Renji explained. He didn't want Kirihara's attention to get wavered, and thus didn't tell the others were talking about. It was far too much of a distraction anyhow.

" Oh," Kirihara exclaimed, before turning around and heading over to practice alone. He was only a few steps away when Renji called him back, "Kirihara, go pick up some equipment for the club activities" he said. He had just remembered that they were short on certain equipment and being well advised as he was, he took the opportunity to give out the task.

" Equipment?"

Renji nodded, "yes, there should be some new equipment, I believe it was left outside the showers," he said, as a matter of factly.

Kirihara nodded, before putting his racket down on the bench and excusing himself from the courts. Walking down the halls, he took a turn towards the shower room, but stopped abruptly.

_Where did Renji say the equipment was? Right, in front of the shower room. Then where was it?_

Kirihara looked around quizzically, and walked up and down the hall. There was no equipment. Either Renji was wrong or someone had touched the equipment, and there's no way he could think that his sempai was wrong.

" Where is it…?" Kirihara spoke aloud, scratching his head absentmindedly.

He snapped his head around towards the shower room. His eyebrows twitched at the sound of blasting water.

_Is someone in there…but nobody should here at this time,_ Kirihara thought.

Hesitantly, he walked over to the shower room and pushed the door open. The sound of the shower stopped and he held his breath, before slamming the door wide open and yelling.

" WHO THE HELL IS-"

His words fell short and his jaws dropped slightly, as he stared at the sight before him. He was sure he was being delusional at this point.

"Ann?"

He blinked, once, twice, three times and pinched the bridge of his nose to make sure this was all real and when he opened his eyes, he was met with a large bloke of soap crashing into his forehead. Kirihara landed hard on the slippery shower floors.

"Pervert! What are you doing in here!" Ann screamed from the second stall down. Her face was burning with both rage and embarrassment.

Kirihara shook his head; once again making sure this was all real and then stood up from the previous soap attack.

"Me?" He yelled back, "What're_ you_ doing in here!" He pointed out, dusting his jacket. Once standing he realized she was only clad in a white towel that barely reached her knees.

She consciously held the towel closer to her chest, "I-I-I was taking a shower!" She spit out as Kirihara rolled his eyes in dismay.

" Well, duh, what else would you do in the shower," he exasperated, " I mean, why are you here…doing whatever your doing?" He asked, clearly not satisfied with her answer.

" I-I just came from tennis practice, so…I though-"

"You thought you'd help yourself to the boys shower room?" He questioned deliriously, glaring at her.

" Well excuse me, but there are no girl showers anywhere here, so I had to resort to using the boys shower room," she scoffed back, sassily, placing her hands on her hips.

"And you think, you can barge in where ever you please, eh?" He shot back, pointing a finger.

She walked out of the stall, now fully in front of him, " you don't have to get so angry, you know," Ann stated. Without realizing, Kirihara's eyes were drawn to her figure, and his eyes greedily roamed over her bare hands, down to her long, smooth legs.

After years, he could tell she had grown well, but that was hardly an excuse he could use for looking at her.

"Oh yeah, why is that? What if someone else came in, huh?" He pointed out logically, and subconsciously walked a few steps closer.

" So what?" She snapped back, "Anybody would have been better than you," Ann said, with a sour face.

"Is that so?" Kirihara retaliated with equal loath.

"I won't forget what you did to my brother!" She yelled back, clearly stating her motives. She was ready to hit him with another block of soap that was for sure.

Kirihara growled at her comment, "and I'll never forget what you did to me," he yelled back, remembering how she had pushed him down that flight of stairs in the invitational camp.

Ann paced closer, looking angry as ever, " you think you'll make me feel regretful for pushing you down those stairs, by bringing it up? At least I apologized!" She said sharply, poking him in the chest.

He huffed in response, "you think I feel regretful about your brother, and if you remember correctly I apologized too!" He said, taking her hand of his chest and throwing back by her side.

Ann glared at him harshly, " you really are the worst," she hollered.

Kirihara smirked, "yeah, and your still as ugly and weak as ever! I'd like to see you leave your dumb brothers side at least once!" He taunted mercilessly.

Ann had enough. She just about ready to punch his face and smack that arrogant smirk right off his lips, along with the stupidity in his brain.

"That's enough!" She shouted, "you can bad mouth me, but don't you dare-" she panted, "don't you _dare_ say a thing about my brother, or I-ooof!"

And it was the second time that day, that Kirihara had fallen on his back, but this there was some heavy weight on him.

_Why was it always him who was falling?_

"Ughhh, watch your step!" He yelled, regaining awareness of the situation that she was on top of him and he was below.

"It's not my fault that the floor's so slippery!" she stammered back, realizing that a large pair of hands were gripping her waist too tightly, and her chest was in contact with a harder, more muscular chest.

Ann turned a slight shade of red; the only separating them was the towel.

The towel.

The towel, which was slipping.

_Slowly_, but surely.

"Get off me!" Kirihara screeched, also becoming well aware of the situation and trying to retreat.

Ann tumbled, trying to get up, "the floor- it's just too slippery!" She muttered hesitantly, trying to dispatch herself from Kirihara, but failed, and fell slumped on his chest. Her arms were impatiently trying to push herself up and off his chest.

" Oi, you…!" Kirihara said, trying to get up as well. He pushed himself up with one hand, while the other was wrapped around her waist. This time he made sure not fall.

As soon as they were standing, she pushed him away, just as he left go of her.

Ann sighed, dusting her towel, and Kirihara aloofly scratched his head, both at loss for words. They had just be fighting moments ago and were now standing completely silent and still.

" I thought you'd changed over the years…but, you haven't changed a bit," Ann said, softly, breaking the silence.

Kirihara's eyes widened, before he murmured a response, "yeah, well, you haven't changed much either," he stated, crossing his arms and looking away.

Ann understood, his posture when she remembered that she was only wrapped in a towel, "o-oh, right," she said hesitantly.

Ann turned her back to him and walked away to get her clothes. She stopped, before speaking, "and don't think this changes anything between us," she snapped, but didn't turn around and walked away, out of Kirihara's sight.

Kirihara stood there for a while, thinking about what had just happened. He shook his head and walked out.

_Now, where had Yanagi-sempai say the equipment was?_

Kirihara had no idea. So he went back to the courts, still completely baffled by their strange run in.

"Kirihara, did you find the equipment?" Renji asked, walking up to him, with some paper in his hand.

Kirihara shook his head, "it….it wasn't there," he muttered, as Renji quirked his lips.

"Wasn't there?" He repeated. "Then there's a 90 percent chance that Sanada moved it," he stated, sighing.

" So you didn't find anything?" Renji asked again.

Kirihara nodded slowly, "I didn't find any equipment...but I sure found something else," he answered, mumbling the last bit to himself.

"Alright then, you may resume your practice," Renji directed, walking in the other direction, muttering oddities to himself.

Practice, eh? Kirihara didn't feel much like practicing.

His mind was too occupied with the thoughts of someone else.

* * *

><p>Ya-ha-ha, another chapter done =)<p>

Yay, more team interaction, and Kirihara and Ann meeting xD

Hope you enjoyed reading this, as much as i enjoyed writing it ^_^

Oh, by the way, anybody watch the New Prince of tennis episode 1? :D

I'm glad they're continuing it, so I can't what to see what's next, cause I've kept up with the manga for New POT :)

They're so super human now! XD

Well, anyhow, stay tuned for the next chapter :)


	4. Stuck

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it =)

* * *

><p>" Okay, that's it, why is there a tennis ball filled with cake in my bag?" Kamio yelled, completely enraged, as Kippei sighed.<p>

After 2 weeks of adjustments, the non-stop pranks were seemingly getting worse by the day. It was no surprise that after another one of Rikkai's pranks, Fudomine wasn't just going sit still. Oh, no, they had plenty of plans of their own.

And so, by the end of the week, the constant trigger of events had led to even more havoc and chaos. No one said a word regarding the cake smeared all over their bags, no one pointed out the tripping of the Rikkai players, because their shoes had been tied in uncountable knots oh so very speedily. And no one definitely said a word, when the team captains gathered them around and demanded what was going on.

"What in the name rackets, is going on here?" Kippei Tachibana sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was standing front, present with Sanada and Yukimura. They almost looked like parents. Almost.

" Explain!" Sanada yelled, crossing his arms over his chest. The other player winced at the sound of his voice. Yukimura merely stood there smiling, but that haunting smile said it all.

Niou scratched his head, "whatever could you be talking about, Sanada fuku bouchou," he said, innocently, as the other team members along with Fudomine, nodded along.

Yukimura sighed. He knew they'd never confess, and at this rate it would take them weeks to give in or even months. He'd have to use a shorter method, which involved endless torturing workouts and blackmailing for the next few months.

" We can do this the easy way," Yukimura began, "or the hard way," he smiled, pointing a thumb in the direction of the snow outside.

Oh, no. Training inside was bad enough, let alone going outside in the freezing weather.

Jackal shook his head in dismay, "okay, look, these guys practically hate each other, so I don't know what else you'd be expecting leaving them alone together here," he explained, as the others nodded. They still weren't clear on what was going, and Sanada raising an eyebrow meant he needed a way better explanation.

"But you guys are the one's who started it!" Kamio pointed out.

Niou gave him a cold look, "yeah, and who continued it? You people." He huffed childishly.

" Well, of course we'd continue it after being attacked twice in a row," Shinji muttered, more to himself than the others.

" Oiling our rackets and shoes was the worst," Kamio added, eyes narrowed.

Marui popped his green bubble gum, "you have no proof," he said, rolling his eyes.

Ishida gripped his racket, " how stupid do think we are? Anybody could tell it was you," he said.

" Enough!" Sanada yelled again. " Whatever's been going on has to stop for today, or else there will be server consequences," he stated strictly.

" Does your fuku bouchou always have stick up his ass?" Shinji murmured aimlessly from the side.

Yagyuu drew closer to him, while adjusting his glasses, "for once I can agree with you. And yes, our fuku bouchou tends to sound and speak and look like this," he whispered, as Shinji nodded in understanding. The two continued to whisper, before feeling the deathly aura coming from behind them.

Sanada snapped around glaring dagger at the two, "do you two have something particularly interesting you'd like to share with us?" He seethed.

Shinji and Yagyuu shook there heads and slowly took a few steps back, as Sanada began to lecture them and Kippei just grinned from one ear to the other. It was just a bad habit. Both teams began muttering and speaking again just as another head popped up in the door way of the indoor tennis courts.

"Care to explain why your late, Kirihara?" Yukimura asked, crossing his arms. Kirihara shook his head in response, adjusting his tennis shirt and tying his shoe laces.

" The weathers horrible outside Bouchou," Kirihara explained, pointing outside.

Yukimura looked in the direction of the windows," it's seems your right, Kirihara," he stated, furrowing his eyebrows. Yanagi and Kippei walked up to him, sensing a wave of problems conflicting.

"I'll let you off this time," Yukimura smiled, as Kirihara's face brightened up. He turned back towards the window, studying the dreading weather.

"Yes, no laps for me!" Kirihara sang in a happy tone. Sanada frowned and knocked the side of his head lightly, "don't get to carried away now," he growled and stood by, as Yukimura, Kippei and Yanagi turned away from the large windows.

" Kirihara pointed out the bad weather…" Yukimura trailed off. Everyone in the room stopped and turned towards the three. All eyes were on them.

" I checked the weather reports and according to my data its correct," Yanagi began, as the others listened slowly, "100 percent chance of storm, 87 percent chance of icy roads and blockage, 99-"

"Okay we get it," Kamio said coolly, clearly understanding the situation…or at least he thought he did.

Kippei shook his head at Kamio, "no Kamio, you don't get it," he began, "you know what this means?"

Kamio and the others stared at their captains with confusion, "what?"

"It means we're stuck here."

That sentence struck a link of chain event amongst the players.

Jackal dropped his racket on Marui's foot, who's bubble gum popped in his face, as the ball Shinji was bouncing oh so casually on the side of his racket, fell out of pace and hit Niou on the head. Niou stumbled a bit, bumping into Yagyuu who was already in a state of shock and dropped his glasses on the floor then proceed to covering his face, all the while running into Kamio, who spun around so fast that he smacked Ishida in the face, Ishida tumbled and fell on the rest of his team members, Mori and Sakurai. Kirihara just stood there aloofly, and Sanada tucked his hat downward, which covered majority of his face.

Kippei groaned in bemusement, and Yanagi just looked away.

"Well….at least we're stuck together," Kirihara pointed out casually, finally breaking the strange silence. Everyone seemed to recover form the sudden shock and started picking themselves up.

"I'm sorry, but might I mention, the holidays start tomorrow," Mori added, gulping. That fact dawned upon the others and realization hit them hard in the face.

Marui ripped the bubble gum of his face, "are you telling me, that, I'm going to be stuck here for the holidays and Christmas!" He said sassily, popping his gum in a unusually violent manner. Even Jackal, his doubles partner stepped away.

"I ain't staying here for the holidays," Niou stated coolly. He picked up Yagyuu's glasses and handed it to him, and he mumbled a quick thanks.

Yukimura put a hand on his forehead, " But that isn't the worst part," he stated slowly.

Kippei nodded in agreement, " there are far worse matters to attend to," he began. "What exactly do you mean far worse problems?" Kirihara asked, squinting a bit.

" You see, this creates a grave problem," Yukimura continued, "it's near the holiday's, so I decided to invite Hyoutei over for some practice matches and a small celebration afterwards."

"WHAT?"

"And, with the permission of Yukimura, I decided to invite Seigaku high school division over for the same reasons."

"WHAT?"

The two captains nodded, knowing they're reactions perfectly well. After all, they were justified.

Sanada raised his head in confusion, "so then what the problem here, apart from the fact that you invited them both?" he asked.

"The thing is, Yukimura and I did not have time to discuss the dates of their arrival, and we planned on our own according so…"

" – So we coincidentally invited them on the same day," Yukimura finished for Kippei.

Sanada rubbed his forehead, " and let me guess…that day is today?"

"Yes."

"This is unbelievable," Yagyuu breathed out.

"Are you serious, bouchou?" Kamio called out, " for practices matches?" he questioned incredouslouly.

"And that to in this weather?" Ishida argued.

"This is so retarded, I wanna go home and sleep and eat sweets."

"Marui, control yourself," Jackal said.

Sanada glared at the snow outside. _Why today of all days?_ He thought to himself. He harshly turned back to the group, " well, we can't just stand around here," clearly stating the obvious.

"Well, what do you expect us to do? Greet them with some sort of banquet parade?" Niou asked in all seriousness.

Yukimura smiled at his teammates sense of humor, " no, we just expect you to treat them properly," he corrected.

Kamio snorted, "properly? I'd like to see that happen." That earned him a glare from Niou and Marui, but he paid no attention to that.

Kippei shook his head, "might I remind you that you guys have to behave as well," he pointed out and Kamio immediately scratched his head, sheepishly.

" Well, for starters we could look at this logically," Yanagi stated, walking up with a sheet of paper in his hand. While the others had been whining away, he'd been busy making some expert calculations on their current predicament.

"Mori pointed out that holiday's start tomorrow, which means if the weather gets really bad we'll be stuck here all throughout the holiday."

"Hell no." They all said in unison.

"Hell yes," Yanagi corrected, " and we can also assume that there's a high chance that the other two teams won't appear. In fact, they may have not even left their schools yet because of this weather," he added.

"And because the weather was so unexpected, we had no warnings either, or else practice would have been cut," Yukimura said.

"Same goes for you guys," Kippei said to his team.

Silence followed after a while, as majority of the team, was sitting on the benches and watching the snow fall in violent tantrums outside. The rest of the school teams had left, since they're practice were no where near as harsh has the tennis members. And only the regulars stayed this late, thanks to their fuku bouchou training.

"Are we seriously stuck here?" Kirihara asked again, breaking the awkward growing silence.

"Yeah, we're bloody stuck here's with nothing to do, bored out of our minds," Kamio replied, quite eager to talk.

"Well, at least we have each other," Jackal pointed out smiling. Marui looked at him as if he'd grown hair.

" Are you kidding, I couldn't rely on you people if my life depended on it!" He huffed.

Sanada stared at him with a strange look, "but isn't that what you've been doing all though middle school up till now? Relying on us?" He noted, and Marui shrunk back down in defense.

"This still doesn't help the situation or change the fact that we're stuck…" Ishida trailed of boredly.

Yagyuu nodded in agreement, "apart from that, I believe the holidays are exactly two weeks long."

"…"

"…"

"Yagyuu, I may have misheard, but correct me if I'm wrong, did you just say 2 weeks?" Yanagi asked, completely abashed.

Yagyuu nodded, "yes, 2 weeks. I don't know what you guys have been doing, but the flyers have been flying all around the school. They all say that. As part of the student council committee, I and many others had brought up and extended holiday…so we decided to add one more week to it. And the student body seemed happy with it."

Niou rolled his eyes, "did you ever think that it wouldn't play in our favor?"

"Nope. Never." Yagyuu grinned, pushing up his glasses.

"So what're we gonna do now?" Kirihara asked again.

Yanagi looked at the younger member, "Well there's still a reasonably good chance that the other teams won't coming."

" Yeah, and if they're not coming tha-"

"Who's not going to coming, ahn?" A deep male voice said, as a pair of violet eyes and the most arrogant smirk you could find were set on them.

"Do not let your down guard down." A tall figure approached them, his serious poker face was the same as always.

The Fudomine and Rikkai members stared the two entrances to the courts, most jaws dropped, other kept it well under control and hidden.

"Shoot me."

" You just had to jinx that, didn't you Yanagi."

"I'm utterly sorry."

"Why? Why?"

"Stop moaning, 'why', you sound like an idiot."

"Somebody give me cake."

"No, you'll get fat."

"Does anybody have a reality check I could borrow?"

"No, but does someone have a gun I could borrow?"

"Should we run?"

"No Kamio, we face them."

"Why?"

"Shut it."

"Oh hell naw."

"Oh hell yes."

And oh hell it was.

* * *

><p>Ya-hoo, another chapter done :)<p>

There was little Kiri/Ann in this one, I apologize. But now four teams are locked in a school for the holidays, so it'll be fun to write...I might just throw in another certain pairing ;)

I will try and update quickly! Thanks~

R&R


	5. What?

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it =)

* * *

><p>The two groups stared at their expected, but unexpected guests. An awkward silence spread through the large courts; Rikkai and Fudomine were at lose for words, as the other two teams bounced their way down to the courts, completely oblivious of the current situation.<p>

"Sanada."

"Atobe."

All the members of the gym towards Atobe and Sanada, completely surprised that they were actually on talking terms, let alone being near each other and the first one's to speak.

"Whoa! Since when are those two on talking terms…in fact, I don't think I've ever heard them speak to each other casually," Momoshiro grinned, walking up with the rest of the Seigaku players.

"Nya! I thought they don't even breath the same air!" Kikimaru laughed, as his doubles partner Oishi grabbed his shoulder to settle him down.

"Why on earth would I speak with him?" Sanada asked, as if it was a insult. Clearly Atobe was offended, as his face contorted in disappointment.

"Are you saying that you do not wish to speak to ore-sama?" Atobe shot back, raising a brow.

Tezuka sighed, " calm down, let's not get distracted shall we? We're here for tennis, remember, " he pointed out, as Sanada nodded in agreement.

" Oi, poker face, does it look like we're in any position to be playing tennis?" Niou shot back, heftily. Yukimura couldn't help but agree.

" As much as I'd like to beat you all in tennis, -"

"Beat us? You make it sound like you'd win against us all, ahn?" Atobe cut in. Clearly he didn't care flying pigeons about Yukimura's dangerous smile and aura he was giving off.

" Eh…uhm…why are you guys here anyway…I mean, in this weather?" Chotarou mumbled, trying to change the serious subject.

" Actually we're not to sure about anything either," Kikimaru shrugged. Fuji nodded beside him, " ah, yeah, all I remember was Inui and Kunimitsu dragging us on the nearest bus…" he trailed off.

" Dragging?" Shishido asked, quizzically.

Momoshiro shivered, " dragging? More like knocking out!" He yelled. "Oi, don't be such a chicken!" Kaido growled. In a mere few seconds, the two had begun arguing and jumping at each others throats.

" Heh heh…if I recall correctly, you were the first to pass out, no, Kaido?" Fuji smiled, eyes closed and all. Kaido merely hissed and turned away to look at the blizzard.

Kawamura Takeshi looked at the rest of his team with oddity, "eh? Actually, I believe our story went something like this…"

oOo

"So let me just get this once more, you want us to go to where?" Momoshiro asked his vice captain.

Oishi looked around helplessly, hoping that their knight in shining armor, in other words, Tezuka Kunimitsu would come rushing to save him. He didn't know how much longer he could put up with this, and Oishi had lost count of how many times he had answered the same question.

"What seems to be the problem?" Tezuka said walking up to the team. They were currently inside the club room, not for practice, but for a sudden meeting.

" Tezuka…" Oishi trailed off, and gestured to the group. Tezuka seemed to follow up immediately.

" Yes, it is true. We have taken up on Fudomine's offer for practice matches. Anyone got a problem?"

Clearly no one had a problem, because no one's mouths moved even a muscle after that. Inui finally broke the silence, clearly for a good cause, " ehm, Tezuka, this may not be the best time to bring this up, but- eh…there is 50 percent chance of a storm."

"Inui." Tezuka spoke.

"Eh, yes?" He called hesitantly.

" I've had you all run laps in a snow storm" he began, but Inui cut him off. " Yes, well, this one is different. The roads may be blocked after 2 hours and 47 minutes, and the harsh winds may cut power out and rip the cable lines, and there is 80 percent chance of power shortage."

Tezuka took some time to absorb this before looking at Inui, "so what do you propose we do?"

"Well Fudomine didn't cancel the match, or send us a weather warning," Oishi jumped in helpfully.

Fuji nodded, " I agree with Oishi, besides it would be rude to decline at this point."

Tezuka smiled, ever so slightly at his groups guidance, " alright, then it's settled." He looked at the watch then back to the rest of the group, " we leave in 10 minutes, the bus will probably be arriving soon."

"WHAT?" Momoshiro cried, "but I don't want to go! Play with Fudomine? In Rikkai high school? Is this a joke?" He continued his abrupt confusion. Kaido hissed beside him, clearly not wanting to go either. And Kawamura seemed slightly reluctant to go as well.

"Nya! This is weird, can't we just play here like usual?" Kikumaru whined out loud.

Tezuka was about to take action when Fuji stopped him, smiling. "Tezuka, who do you think we are?"

Suddenly, Inui appeared behind the group holding the most awkward looking bottle that they had ever came across. It was filled with a mysterious red substance, which one could only mistaken as blood.

Tezuka sighed, "Inui, male anatomy shaped bottles are not welcome here." Inui grinned, with an evil gleam in his eyes. Along side him was Fuji, with the same malice intent.

"I'm sorry guys, but this is the only way we'll reach there on time."

In a quick, swift motion, Fuji had somehow gotten Momoshiro, Kaido, Kikumaru and Kawamura to open there mouths. Inui swiftly dropped the liquids into their mouths.

"What the f-"

Kaido was unable to finish his sentence. He along with the other three had passed out. Oishi stared at Inui and Fuji in horror, stepping back.

"Err….well, I better go on the bus- wouldn't want to wait any longe-"

"Where do you think your going, Oishi?" Fuji asked, stepping closer. In a few moments, Oishi was in the same placid state as the others.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Inui smiled. Tezuka nodded, "good work, but you forgot one thing…"

"Oh, what was that?"

"This."

Tezuka smoothly grabbed the bottle from Inui, and in an awkward, but successful way, he managed to pour some into to Fuji and Inui's mouths. There was a strange silence before they fell to the floor.

"There. Now we can leave."

Coach Ryuzaki suddenly walked in, her jaws dropping at the sight. "Kunimitsu! What happened here?" She asked worriedly.

Tezuka merely shifted his glasses, "I was simply trying to gain some silence." Coach Ryuzaki sighed into her palm before grinning and hauling the rest of them onto the bus.

oOo

"…And that's what happened," Kawamura ended, while the others look thunderstruck.

"Tezuka, I knew you were strict, but even ore-sama doesn't do that," Atobe huffed, prideful, as his team sniggered.

" Yeah, you don't do that, you do something even worse," Shishido grunted, exchanging a look with the rest of the team.

" Heh, our situation of ending up here was quite the opposite…"

oOo

" Atobe," Oshitari called out calmly, with the rest of the team standing behind him, restless and impatient.

"…"

"We have to leave now, I mean now," he said, tentatively. Atobe Keigo had no interest, what so ever, in what they were saying.

"Kabaji," he said swiftly, in his usual haughty voice.

"Usu."

"Show them out the door."

"What the hell!" Gakuto growled, marching up to Atobe.

Shishido glared at Atobe so fierely, that if it

had been anyone else, they'd probably have run away by now, "how long are you going to stare at that computer screen for?" He questioned.

That seemed to have caught Atobe's attention as he turned to look up at them, "oh, so that's what this machine is called," he said with, clicking everywhere he could, opening a bunch of random website browsers

Chotarou felt to shocked to speak, finding his captain's actions beyond oddness. Shishido tapped his fingers impatiently on the side of the compute table, "Atobe, it's a bloody computer, it's existed before you born," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But look! Look at this! Ohhh, look there's something here called email! Fascinating! Oshitari, have you heard of this email device?" He asked, curious like a little child beyond measure.

"Yes, yes I have." Oshitari replied with ease that only he possesses on the team. "It allows you to stay in contact with people," he explained, as Atobe nodded, understanding.

"Atobe…you've never been on a computer before, have you?" Shishido grinned, biting his lower lip to stifle the large rumbles of laughter rising up his throat. Gakuto was already laughing his head off beside him.

Atobe's head snapped up, "of course ore-sama has, Shishido, why ore-sama could buy thousands of these...err- computers," he challenged, glaring back.

"Isn't that right Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Shishido rolled his eyes, before pressing the power button of the computer. Atobe's eyes grew wide with awe and horror, as he watched his beloved computer 'die'.

"Shishido," Atobe said, now standing up, "ore-sama will not tolerate this type of behavior in the club room."

"This isn't the club room," Oshitari corrected, "and he merely turned it off, so you may explore your new found fascination when we get back," Oshitari grinned, finding the whole scenario far too amusing.

Atobe looked away, "well that's all fine, but we won't go until we get a call," he added, sitting back down on the chair. He turned on the monitor once more.

"But Atobe, we need to go, or we'll arrive late," Choutaro reminded, stepping in.

Atobe shook his head, "ore-sama will not move an inch until we are invited as guests, in fact, Ore-sama will not move until-"

Shishido slammed his hand down on the table, "listen here, and listen good, we're going, I don't give a flying fuck about what you have to say," he stated plainly.

Oshitari stood by, watching in growing amusement and humor; he certainly had to give credit to Shishido for having so much spunk against the captain. Choutaro was now growing worried, hiding slightly behind Oshitari's back.

"Eh, will they be alright?" He asked testily, in increasing anticipation. Oshitari smiled, "I assume they'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

"Is that so?" Atobe shot back.

"It is."

Atobe glared for a few more seconds, before a sly smirk crossed his lips, "Kabaji."

"Usu."

"Tie them to those chairs."

Before the team knew it, they were al strapped to the chairs behind the computer screen.

"There, how's that for a 'flying fuck', Shishido? Ahn?" Atobe said, raising a brow in amusement.

"Atobe…"Oshitari trailed off, squirming slightly at the side. Gakuto was beside him, followed by Shishido then finally Choutaro, who looked completely mortified on spot.

"Ah, now Ore-sama can enjoy his new found computer!"

Oshitari seemed to be losing his cool too, after all most humans could only withstand so much of Atobe's oddness. "For fucks sake, Shishido, if you had just kept your mouth shut, we could've been out of here," he stated coolly.

Shishido rolled his eyes, irritated, " how the hell is this my fault? I mean who led 'Ore-sama' to the computer anyway?" He shot back snappily.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I really had no idea it would cause this much trouble!" Choutaro blurted out in frenzy.

"What?"

"I only did it because Gakuto sempai asked me too!" He added quickly, as all their heads snapped towards Gakuto who looked around for a quick escape.

"Uhh...Jirou told me to tell Choutaro!" He yelled in response. They all turned around, swiveling their heads, looking for the culprit.

"Where is he?" Shishido asked, while Oshitari shook his head, "he's not here."

Atobe grinned and gave the others an arrogant smirk, "oh Jirou? Ore-sama sent him to the bus hours ago," he said smugly.

The other's felt their jaws drop in disbelief.

"Lucky bastard."

oOo

Kirihara had been laughing along with Kamio, Momoshiro, Kikumaru and Marui. They all found the whole scenario extremely hilarious, while they the others hid there amusement and laughter fairly well.

"That's pathetic," Kirihara chuckled, clicking his tongue, "being strapped to the chair my your captain!" Gakuto practically glared daggers his way, mumbling strange curses under his breath.

"So how did you get here?" Niou asked, smirking alongside Marui.

Oshitari looked away in embarrassment, and Choutaro simply chuckled sheepishly. Shishido, turned around and pretended to look busy, which he clearly wasn't, leaving Gakuto to do the talking.

Gakuto looked around in befuddlement, "hey! Why me," he sighed, "Basically…Kabaji…just…carried us…on the chairs…one by one…" he muttered quietly, barely audible enough.

The laughter in the courts had increased immensely after hearing this. "Well Atobe, I can hardly say my methods were harsher than yours," Tezuka stated calmly, closing his eyes.

Atobe crosses his arms, "well it's not my fault they were in the way of ore-sama's discovery," he snorted, in a very unlike- Atobe way.

Yukimura smiled, watching the large excited group, "Atobe stop using Ore-sama in every sentence or you can walk right back out the gate you came from," he stated, smile still plastered on his face. Atobe looked at him, as if he'd asked him to shave his head…again. "Ore-sama- will not tolerate this on a regular basis," he began, looking at everyone, "but just for this occasion Ore sama- I mean, I will speak as a lowlife, such as the rest of you," he replied, flipping his hair slightly.

Yukimura figured this was the best he could get for now since this was Atobe. " Well, I guess since that's settled we'll get going," he said.

Kippei nodded at him and Tezuka, "I guess we'll split the courts, then."

"Kippei nii-san! Look who came!"

Tachibana Kippei turned around to see Ann Tachibana running to the group, along with a very familiar face behind her. Kirihara could only gag at the sight of Ann.

"Sakuno?"

At that name, the Seigaku team members turned in confusion, only to see their good old, shy friend.

"Sakuno?" Oishi repeated, stepping forward, "what are you doing here?" He asked. The others stepped forward to in growing curiosity.

"Ann, I thought I told you to go home?" Kippei said, raising a brow. Ann looked at him keenly in response, 'I know, but I ran into Sakuno on my way out around 2 hours ago. Besides she was looking for something," Ann added, shrugging and sitting on the side bench. She shoved Kirihara's belongings right off and onto the ground.

Kirihara growled silently, glaring in her direction. He grew even angrier when he realized she was purposely ignoring him. Yanagi and Yukimura noticed this exchange and exchanged glances knowingly.

" She came here for something?" Tezuka repeated, slightly irritated at the large growing number of people, as well as the strange confusion among people.

"Not something, Tezuka Sempai," Sakuno muttered quietly from the side, "someone." She began walking, not looking that shy and silent anymore. Her hair was flowing freely, a little shorter, but still lush as ever.

"Masaharu, you um- your coat, you forgot it at my house," she smiled, blushing a little, as she walked closer to him.

It was sure to say, that at this point into the evening, nothing, absolutely nothing, could be more shocking than the scene before them. Even Sanada and Tezuka couldn't help but lower their stotic demeanors for a few minutes.

He grabbed the jacket and threw it on the bench beside her, "Sakuno, you came here all the way to give me my jacket?" Niou asked teasingly, pulling her into a tight embrace. Her blush only got redder.

She seemed to struggle with her words, " I- well, the weather was looking bad, so I brought your jacket over…uhm, I thought you would get sick walking home," she explained, watching his lips tugging into an amused grin.

He pulled her even tightly bringing his lips down to her ear, "really?" he breathed, "I thought you wanted to continue what we were doing last night," he said, licking her earlobe.

Sakuno yelped at his sudden public affection, "Masaharu!" She exclaimed, slapping his shoulder lightly, as he chuckled at her antics.

"Just joking….well not really, but we can do that later," he grinned, like a Cheshire cat. Sakuno only grew redder, and clutched his team shirt, burying her face in it to hide her embarrassment. Niou only continued to grin, staring back at the rest of the other team and members.

Frankly speaking, he was quite happy with their reactions.

"What the fuck did I just witness," Shishido said quietly, breaking the extreme tension and silence.

Momoshiro shook his head, "no, no, no way, in hell you too are…" he trailed off. He could barley bring himself to finish the thought.

"Us to are what?" Niou smirked, still holding onto Sakuno, who clearly didn't want to speak about it.

"I believe he is referring to the term, 'dating'," Yanagi explained, still slightly shocked. "0% chance that anybody knew about this," Inui said as a matter of factly.

"Sakuno," Ann spoke, slightly bemused at first, before smiling, "good catch!" She said, giving a tiny thumbs up. Sakuno laughed lightly, and nodded in return.

" Niou Sempai…you…" Kirihara knew his sempai was a tease, but this was just plain odd. "Are you on something?" He asked in all seriousness. Niou rolled his eyes at his younger teammate, "no, I'm not."

The Rikkai team, to say the least, was shocked beyond measure. Knowing Niou for so long made it hard to believe he would do something like this, or rather even attempt the act of caring.

Marui was still having great difficulty processing this through his head, "Niou, how did you fool her?" he asked bluntly.

Niou glared at him, "I did not fool her, she just fell for me," he grinned, looking down at her, as she blushed even harder. Marui spit his gum out.

"And what about Ryoma, nya?" Kikumaru asked, tilting his head. That question had been burning on everyone's mind for a while now.

"Uhm, Ryoma and I are just friends, really, since he moves around a lot…" Sakuno replied, as the others made their surprised 'O' shaped faces.

"Well what's done is done," Yagyuu pointed out, shifting his glasses. Jackal looked at him with suspicion, "well you seem fairly calm about this, Yaagyu," he stated, tapping his foot.

Niou chuckled, "yeah, that's cause he's the only one who knew," he said, winking. Yaagyu merely looked away, finding the snow outside very interesting all of a sudden.

Sanada sighed, "okay now that this is done, let's do what we were supposed to do." Yukimura nodded, "we'll split the courts and get going."

"Alright, then," Kippei began, "I guess, we'll take this half," he said as he started to walk in that direction.

" Let's go Rikkai," Sanada said to the team, "you better not lose a single match or else I- fuck." Sanada looked around, glaring at outside.

"Are you kidding me!" Momoshiro and Marui shouted in unison, flailing their arms.

"Goodness, Marui, Momoshiro, calm down," Jackal spoke in the dark.

Either it was bad karma, or something else, but whatever was meddling with that day, was getting increasingly annoying.

"I believe we have a power failure."

"…"

Kippei stopped in his tracks, and turned back to the rest of them, clearly not happy with the way things were going. Once they're eyes began adjusting to the darkness, the players dropped their bags and jackets, taking a seat around the court area and benches.

"This is ridiculous." Tezuka spoke after a while. He was looking at the storming winds outside. Kippei scowled, "how bad is this weather?"

Gakuto shrugged in response, "I don't know, why don't you ask the geek freaks," clearly referring to Inui and Yanagi.

Oshitari looked around, "hmm…they seem to have disappeared," he noted. "They're probably finding the cause of the blackout," Yagyuu stated, as the others not their heads.

"This could take a while," Fuji pointed out bitterly. They were all well aware that this wasn't going to be easy.

Kirihara looked around boredly. He didn't seem to see the problem here. "So can we play tennis now?"

"Fuck no."

* * *

><p>Well, there goes another one :)<p>

Yeah, less Kiri/Ann at the moment becuase I gotta talk about all 4 teams and what not. Rest assured, there will be more of them...slowly, but surely ;)

Yay~ Niou/Saku...not much of them, but they'll be there...

Hope you enjoyed reading, as much as I enjoyed writing. Thanks~

R&R


	6. Search

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Prince of tennis, or anything of it =)

* * *

><p>It was safe to say, that at this point the situation was far too bemusing to believe. Some of them could hardly believe this was happening, some of them were confused as ever, and a fair bit of them were thinking of the most strategic counter method to solve their predicament. As a whole, they could at least agree to cooperate.<p>

" Well, I for one, refuse sit around all day here," Jackal muttered, as the rest of the teams looked at him. For the past half an hour they had been lousily staring at the bombarding snow outside. And although there wasn't much to look at, it kept them occupied to the extent that they weren't going at each other.

They turned their heads when they saw Yanagi and Inui walking calmly towards them. "We have an issue."

Shishido rolled his eyes at this, "well, you don't say," he stated sarcastically, as Gakuto giggled.

Yanagi shook his head ignoring his comment, "it's not that simple."

"What do you mean?" Sanada asked, raising a brow. Inui flipped through some papers as, he began to explain, " well, for starters, as you can all see the lights are out," he said.

"We have back-up systems, but that's useless because there's also power failure, and there's a very high probability the lines on the road fell," Yanagi added, as the others listened carefully.

"And it's not only us, it must also be the area around us, so going outside won't really do us any good at the moment until the weather dies down a bit," Inui said, dropping his papers on the bench and sitting down.

"So what're we supposed to do? I mean we can't play tennis in the dark with over 30 people running around the courts," Oishi said, worriedly.

Yukimura looked over at Sanada and nodded his head, " from what Renji had told us, it seems quite troublesome, but I'm assuming you two have a solution for the time being," he added, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Inui nodded, " of course."

" We'll use an invertor and flashlights for the time being," he said, as the others looked at him incredouslouly.

"An invertor?" Kippei asked dubiously, as Yanagi nodded, " I know it's a bit old fashioned, but for now, we can run the place on that. Just for the time being," he added reassuringly.

" Sounds good to me! So…were exactly do we find the invertors and flashlights?" Momoshiro said sheepishly.

Inui stopped writing with his pen, "good question. But it may actually take some time to get everything to work."

Oshitari stared at him, "what exactly do you mean by getting everything to work?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, the thing is, there's up to two invertors on every floor, as well as flashlights. The main system, plus the cables and whatnot are in the basement and on the roof," Inui stated.

"What exactly are you getting at, ahn?" Atobe asked, getting irritated at all the useless chattering. Why couldn't they just get straight to the point and spit it out? That, he would never understand.

"That's not the problem here." Yanagi shot back.

"Then what is the problem?" Tezuka replied, not missing a beat.

Inui sighed, "well, according to Yanagi we need keys…and there are a different number of keys for each room on a floor, which we need in order to have access to the invertors and the flashlights."

"Especially the flashlights," Yanagi stressed.

Tezuka didn't need to be told further, as he could clearly see where this conversation was going. "…Let me guess, you don't know which rooms have the keys." He said slowly.

Yanagi and Inui exchanged quick glances before nodding. "That's precisely the problem," Inui said, knowing that his bouchou a knack for catching on quickly.

"Since there are four floors, not counting the roof of course, we'll need to make teams and split up in order to find a-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up a second, since when did this become an expedition for flashlights?" Marui stepped in, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, I mean, what is this, the a self-rescue team?" Shishido said, giving them a 'I'd-rather-listen-to-Atobe-talk-than-look-for-flashlights' look.

Yanagi gave them all a once over look before turning to his Bouchou for some assistance.

" Well, frankly speaking, it's far more productive than lying around waiting," Yukimura noted, as Kippei nodded.

"At least, we'll have a light source. Plus, we could play tennis," he added.

Atobe, put his a hand on his head, slightly shaking it, "and how, pray tell, do you even know there are keys on every floor?" He asked smartly, running a hand through his too perfect hair.

"Actually, I could vouch on it," Yagyuu stated from the side, pushing up his glasses. "As member of the of the student council committee, of course," he added.

Niou raised an eye brow at his doubles partner, "do you know which rooms there in?" he questioned.

Yagyuu merely looked away, "well of course not, since they never stay in one room for long due to the fact that people are always borrowing them. Except for the invertors. Those, I believe, are always in the last two rooms at the end of each hallway."

Inui grinned, "that gives us a good start."

"We should split up and get everything," Yanagi said again.

Kirihara stared at his teammates in confusion, clearly finding the whole concept of 'lighting' quite useless. " What's the point of splitting up and looking? I mean, half the people here can't even find the bathrooms in our school, how the hell do you expect them to fine keys and flashlights?" He rambled, as the others looked at him with growing amusement.

Sanada glared at his younger teammate," Akaya!" he boomed. Kirihara glared back, but sulked and looked away at the snow. He noticed, as he was turning around, that Ann was quietly giggling with Sakuno. He started at her before blinking and coming to the realization that she was laughing at him. _Laughing at him?_

He glared at her when their eyes met, and immediately, he soft laughing lips turned upward, along with her eyes. She stared him down until he turned away.

"Oh?" Yanagi breathed out, as Yukimura gazed at the two with a mischievous glint in his eyes. A few others followed at the sudden exchange, understanding what it meant, but kept their thoughts to themselves for the time being.

"Alright, according to Renji, there are four floors, not counting the basement and roof, and 3 hallways per floor and we have 30 of us here at the moment," he began.

"Tezuka, Sanada, Atobe and Kippei, your going to the roof-"

"Ah? I refuse to go to the roof," Atobe cut in sharply, as Inui moved his hands up in defense. "Ehm, okay t-"

"It's alright, I'd prefer he'd not come anyway," Sanada stated, already walking towards the exit. Atobe's eyebrow shot up in surprise at Sanada's comment. He stood still for a few moments, before he snapped back and started smirking his usual egocentric smirk.

"Is that so? Well on that note, I guess I have no choice," he shot back. Kippei sighed along with Tezuka, as they both started following Sanada. Atobe soon caught up with them, the four of them disappearing out of sight.

Inui shook his head, tilting his glasses, "jeez, I didn't even get to tell them what they had to do," he sighed, as Yanagi patted his shoulder, "don't worry, I anticipated as much. After all they have Sanada, they'll be fine," he smiled slightly.

The two looked around at the rest of the group, noticing their down right gloomy aura that literally spelled out boredom.

"Let's make this quick."

Inui nodded, as he pulled out his pen and notebook, "you, you, you and you two, second floor."

"You, you three and you two, fourth floor." Renji continued, as the others awkwardly, yet swiftly ran in all directions.

"You five go check the third floor."

"And you six can stay on this floor."

In less than ten minutes, the two had scattered the bunch on all different floors, except for two. "Care to explain, why we two are the only one's remaining?" Fuji smiled, leaning against the window, with Yukimura standing beside him with a very similar smile playing on his lips as well.

Inui chuckled nervously, "eh heh, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure why, but now that you're here, why don't the four of us head down to the basement to check everything out and see if we can fix anything," he said, gesturing toward the door.

"Alright then, let's head down."

oOo

"Well, isn't this exciting?" Marui exclaimed, rolling his eyes at the other five. Momoshiro crosses his arms, " well, I'll say! This is the greatest group yet," he added, looking around.

Jackal was speedily tapping his foot, looking around for something to occupy himself with, while Kaido simply pocketed his hands and stared at whatever seemed to be in his sight of vision. And it was crystal clear to the rest of them that Ann and Kirihara were still thinking about their bad fate of ending up together.

"Okay, so like Inui said, three hallways, two people. Simple," Momoshiro grinned, as Jackal nodded.

Kirihara jeered at them, "how on earth, is this simple?" He stated, pointing at Ann, who stared at his finger as if it were some sort of sickness.

Jackal sighed, muttering necessities, "how exactly are we going to do this if we can't even get along," he groaned aloud.

"As long as I'm not with the devil kid, I'm fine," Kaido hissed from the side, as Jackal nodded in understanding.

"Oi, what's so bad about me?" Kirihara complained, gritting his teeth at Kaido. He merely gazed back with the same intent.

Jackal held Kirihara back, " eh, heh…don't worry Kirihara, it's nothing you should concern yourself with."

Momoshiro put a finger on his chin thoughtfully, before his eyes lit up with a brilliant idea. He walked over to Marui and quickly whispered something in his ears, as the others watched, furrowing their eyebrows when Marui's mouth tugged into a wide sly smile.

"I like it!" He said, popping his apple green bubble gum. He swiftly told Jackal, who looked uncertain at the idea, "I dunno guys…" he trailed off. Kaido glared at Momoshiro, who quickly went and whispered the same words in his ear and he simply nodded in understanding.

"Hey, what're you talking about?" Ann asked, getting suspiciously worried.

Momoshiro nodded at Marui, "Now! Run!"

And without a moment to spare the two pairs ran in opposite directions, down the other two halls, leaving behind two extremely confused and ticked off teens. All they heard was the laughing of Momoshiro and Marui, along with a calm and composed Kaido and Jackal's worried figure.

"I can't believe they just- they just…they practically bailed out on us!" Ann yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration and leaning against the wall behind her.

Kirihara blinked slowly, disbelievingly, until he realized that he was left with…her. " Bailing on us, eh? More like ruining my life," he stated slowly, still processing the fact that he was stuck with the person he'd liked to have avoid at all costs.

Ann turned to look at him furiously, " ruin your life?" She huffed. "I should be the one saying that! After all, I'm stuck with you of all people!" She added, scoffing. He stood their silently with her, watching the snow outside the window fall to ground and he was hoping that she had some sort of idea at the moment because admittedly, he didn't have one.

"You know what, I'm sure I can find the keys by myself and get the flashlights too!" She said confidently, and started marching down the hall. Kirihara shoved his hands in his pockets and his lips spread into a amused grin. He said nothing, but merely followed behind her.

In the silence between them, he couldn't help but take in her odd choice attire for this sort of weather. The light purple, almost lavender sweater seemed fairly suitable. Needless to say, he wasn't entirely sure what made her think that black jean shorts were the ideal type of clothing for this weather. And it was especially bothersome because they were short, showing off her long, peachy legs. That sweater wasn't helping either, practically hugging every curve in a way you could practically see how shapely she was.

Kirihara stopped walking abruptly. He shook his head nervously at his thoughts_. I did not just_ _give her a once an over from the back_, he thought. He opened his mouth, agape like a fish, before closing it. She had kept on walking forward, paying no mind to him at the moment. He sighed in relief and kept following.

"You have absolutely no clue where your going, do you?" Kirihara chuckled. Ann didn't turn around to say so, but Kirihara was sure that the word 'no' was somewhere in her hazy thoughts.

"Shouldn't you start at the other end of the hallway?" He suggested, raising a brow at her sudden antics.

"And why is that?" Ann said, swiveling her neck around to face him. Kirihara said nothing. Ann kept walking, the clicking of he shoes against the ground was all that could be heard in the empty hallway. Kirihara stopped walking after a few seconds, completely clear of the fact that she really didn't know where the hell she was going.

" I think we should start from the other end of the hall," he said catching up to her.

She turned to look at him, "why, what's wrong with starting from here? After all, it's not like we're going t-Ahh!"

It all happened very quickly, probably as quicker than the first time it happened and definitely less painful, but in the blink of an eye, Kirihara once again found himself stumbling towards the ground with some heavy weight on him. He quickly grasped her waist, supporting all of his weight as well as hers.

"Ow," Ann moaned rubbing her forehead, while attempting to stand up. Kirihara gruffly mumbled curses at her for being so oblivious of the wall in front of her.

"And this is why I said to start at the other end…but I guess it would make no difference because you'd probably hit a wall anyway!" He seethed, pushing her off his chest and dusting himself.

" Kirihara, you prick!" She yelled in return, "can't anything nice or humble come out of your mouth?"

He stared at her as if she'd said some sort of taboo word. " Humble? Nice? I think that's what you need to do! I've caught you twice already! Twice! And what do I get? A block of soap and some nasty words?" He emphasized, his voice growing louder by the second.

"I never asked you to catch me!" She retaliated.

"Well then, maybe I should've just let you fall!"

"That's exactly what you should've done!"

Kirihara could only stare at her in surprise and befuddlement_. Had she just said that he should let her fall?_ He shook his head at her stubbornness and unwillingness, his anger increasing.

"Then next time, I'll just let you fall!"

She huffed at his sarcasm, " don't worry, I'll make sure there isn't a next time!"

Kirihara rolled his eyes, " yeah, I don't want to be there to catch you," he replied swiftly.

"There won't be a next time," she stated scornfully, poking him in the chest and turning around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back downstairs!" She shouted, marching away from the wall she had just moments ago hit.

Kirihara pocketed his hands once again and stood by watching her walk into the stairway and disappear out of sight. Only a few seconds of silence passed when he heard a loud crash, followed by a yelp. Kirihara's eyes grew wide with concern, before he ran and turned around the doorway. Reaching the sight of the situation, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Are you for real?" He called out to Ann. "Tripping over stairs?"

Ann held in a cry, biting her bottom lips. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd been in such a rush, but it had caused her an injury.

"Hurry up and help me!" She yelled to him from the bottom of the flight of stairs. They were hardly long, but tripping would always lead to the same result.

Kirihara stood, looming at the top, "help you? I thought you didn't want my help," he taunted, crossing his arms. Her cheeks were stained red with embarrassment that she couldn't hide.

Ann was about to say something in retort, but she realized she couldn't since she had just moments ago told him not to help. She cursed in her head at thought of her earlier actions. If she hadn't been that frustrated, Ann was sure that she wouldn't say something so out of blues like that.

Registering the fact that Kirihara wasn't going to help her up, she tried herself. Pushing herself off her hands was a failure, as she fell back to the ground in a heap. Nonetheless she tried again, and the whole time, Kirihara watched her struggled until something finally went click in his head, and realization dawned upon him.

" Hey, why aren't you getting up?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing together. He uncrossed his arms and hesitantly walked down a few steps.

Her head snapped up and she glared at him, "hmmm, gosh Kirihara, I wonder why I can't get up?" Ann questioned, putting a finger on her chin.

"Maybe it's because my foot is broken!" She yelled, wincing, clutching her foot in agony and pain. At the sound of those words, he rushed down the steps to aid her. After all, he was partly at fault and he was also a witness. In the worst case scenario, he sensed that this could be problem if he didn't take care of it fast. _She'll probably tell her brother…then he's gonna be all over me_, he thought, groaning.

"Your foots not broken," he stated, gazing at it from all angles. Ann said nothing, but merely followed his gaze. He suddenly took a hold of her foot, turning it to observe.

"W-what are you doing?"

Kirihara pursed his lips for a moment, in thought, "it's definitely not broken," he said, as a matter of factly. "you've just sprained your ankle, that's all," he added, and she followed his eyes to the swollen area around her ankle.

"That's _all_?" She repeated mockingly "that's great because now I can't walk," she added loosely, throwing her hands up in defeat.

Kirihara stayed kneeled by her side, trying to think of some sort of solution. "I got an idea."

She stared at him with disdain, "well, if it involves me walking, you can forget it."

He snorted at her comment and shook his head, "no, that's not what I had in mind…" he trailed off.

Ann titled her head in confusion, "then how…?"

"Like this."

And before she knew it, a strong pair of arms gripped under her knees and another around her back. Ann found herself in contact with a muscular chest, and fingers pressing under knees and on her back.

He was carrying her.

"What?" She breathed out aloofly. Ann was too stunned to talk for a while, as he carried her back up the flight of stairs she jumped back into reality.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

"Carrying you," he replied, stating the obvious.

"Why…?"

Kirihara didn't look at her but merely shook his head, "your lucky the nurses office is on this floor. I'm sure we can find something in there to fix you up," he added.

Ann quirked her lips, "but why do have to carry me like this?"

"Do you want me to drop you?"

"No."

Ann didn't stay quiet for long, "can't you carry me some other way?"

Kirihara stopped walking, "how?"

Ann slowly got down, limping slightly, as she walked behind Kirihara, "get down."

"What?" He asked, completely perplexed. She tugged on his uniform shirt, indicating she wanted him to bend lower.

Ann rolled her eyes at his confusion, "carry me on your back, you idiot," she said, as Kirihara made an 'o' shape in understanding.

As he bent down, Ann slowly and carefully shifted herself onto her back. Once on, he gripped her thighs so she wouldn't fall and she loosely strung her arms around his neck. Of course, avoiding the awkwardness was hard as ever, but they silently managed.

" Really, I wish someone else was carrying me," Ann said, breaking the silence. Kirihara turned around to give a cold stare.

"Maybe I should drop you," he threatened.

Ann ignored his remark, "I mean, seriously, your back is so uncomfortable. Besides I have I higher standards than some like you," she added.

Kirihara growled at her comment, _how ungrateful, _he thought. "Standards?" He laughed, "You wouldn't know what standards are if they hit you in face!"

Ann furrowed her eyebrows and slapped him lightly on the shoulder, "I know what standards are, and I'd smack them right back if they ever hit me," she replied coolly.

"Right," he replied. And then they were silent once again.

In their silence, she noticed that he was griping her thighs tightly, but she pain no mind. At the least, she kind of like the way his fingers dug into her soft flesh and the way his curly hair bounced at the back of his head every time he took a step. And Ann would never admit it at front, but she had been lying about his back being uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was extremely warm and comfortable and she really didn't feel like coming off of it.

Once he stopped, she banished those ridiculously impulsive thoughts. "We're here," he stated, opening the door.

Kirihara dropped her on the soft, white bed and quickly turned on the light. Ann gazed around the room while he rummaged through a few drawers to find supplies.

"Take your shoe off," he directed, now crouching below her. "huh?" she said in confusion, as he sighed. He ignored her protests and pulled off her shoe, which was followed by her sock. She watched him intensely as he inspected her ankle area again, his long fingers caressing the swollen skin.

Ann watched as he applied ointment to that area in small circles. She watched as his nose crinkled, and consciously drew her foot back, "does my foot smell?"

He chuckled and smirked, "yeah, smells like onions dipped in vinegar." At hearing this, she tugged her foot away, but he caught it just as she did. She yanked it back again, but he just pulled it forward in return. Growing weary of their tug of war game he sighed and spoke, "I was joking, it's the ointment that smells funny. Your feet smell…nice."

Ann blinked a couple of times, unaware that he was now wrapping her ankle in bandages. _He just said…my foot smelled nice,_ she thought, smiling to herself. Ann couldn't help but inwardly laugh. That was the most awkwardly strange comment she had ever received. Especially since it was about her foot.

"All done," Kirihara said, getting up and putting the supplies back. Ann moved her foot around slowly, already feeling less pain.

"How did you learn this…stuff?" She asked, putting on her shoe. She decided to tuck her sock into her pocket for the time being.

He shrugged in response, "fuku bouchou taught me…said it may come in handy," he added.

"Oh," she replied lamely. Ann slowly got of the bed, and limped out the door, followed by Kirihara, who was holding a flashlight in his hand.

"Hey! You got one!" She yelled, grinning.

"That makes one, now I'll get the rest," he said, closing the nurse office door. Ann put her hands on her hips, " _you'll_ get the rest?" She repeated, clearly unhappy with his motives.

"Yeah, me since your in no condition to be looking around," he stated, sneering.

Ann was once again back to square one when it came to cooperating with him. She couldn't believe that she thought they could actually start to, maybe, just possibly, get along for a change. She didn't say anything and watched as he walked down the hallway, lighting up the flashlight he was holding.

She growled. _Was he actually ignoring her? _

"Fine! I'll find them on my own!" She shouted at his back. Getting no reaction, she turned around and walked in the other direction to the nearest door.

And she had hoped that they had been loud enough the entire time, so that that one of the other four would come running and beat the hell out Kirihara. It wasn't exactly the nicest thought, but she was in no condition to land a few punches on his face. She also remembered the need to ask him something. _Why did he help me? _She contemplated many reasons as to why he did and they all seemed fairly reasonable. Ann did decided that she would certainly ask him later…and punch him too.

She entered through the door, sighing. Ann stood at the front of the room, deep in thought.

_I wonder what the other are doing?_

* * *

><p><em>Yay, another chapter done :3<em>

_I hope you enjoted reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this chapter XD_

_Until next time people!_


End file.
